Arknights: Should You Pull? Standard Banner: Saileach and Blaze

The new Standard Banner features the following Operators:

No.

Blaze is about to compete with Gavial the Invincible, and Saileach can usually be replaced by 4★ Myrtle. With banners like Great Axe and Pen Nib and Chop the Thorns looming in the very near future, this is NOT a good place to spend your valuable Orundum.

As with all banners, a 5★ or higher Operator is guaranteed in the first 10 rolls. Should you pull for that? No. While Elysium is very good, his role can also largely be replaced by Myrtle. Iris has niche use for Sleep strategies but is otherwise difficult to use. And Aosta is criminally underpowered, pun intended.

Standard Bearer Vanguard

+ Usual archetype strength: Very high rate of DP generation with S1

+ E1 Talent buffs ally ASPD and debuffs enemy ASPD around her flag’s location

+ E2 Talent reduces the DP cost of the next Operator to be deployed after Saileach by 2 DP

+ S1 has the capacity for enormous DP generation

+ S2 moves her flag (and her E1 Talent aura) to an ally, also granting that ally bonus DEF and healing over time

+ S3 moves her flag (and her E1 Talent aura) to an enemy, dealing Physical damage and Stunning in an area; it also causes valuable Slow and Fragile effects around the flag for the duration and has a short cycle time

= Usual archetype Trait: Can’t Block while her Skills are active

= S2/S3 still generate DP, but less than S1; if you want to use her most powerful buffs/ debuffs, you have to give up some DP gain

- Usual archetype weakness: Stops attacking while Skills are active, lower combat stats

- Her S1 requires more SP than Myrtle’s S1, so it takes her longer to start generating DP (important on some maps with very fast starts)

- Similarly, her S1 is identical to Elysium’s S1, but her DP cost is slightly higher, so she can actually be less efficient for DP generation than he is (made worse by how much rarer she is and therefore how she’s likely to have fewer Potential increases)

- S3 DP generation is rather poor compared to other Standard Bearer Skills

AoE/ Centurion Guard

+ Very consistent damage

+ Once-per-battle “survive anything” card with her Emergency Defibrillator Talent

+ A melee Operator who can extend her attack range permanently with S2

+ S3 gives her an option for AoE burst damage

- Lacks the self sustain and survivability of some other strong lane-holders

- Needs to be E2-promoted for Block-3 in order to unleash her full power

Standard Bearer Vanguard

+ Generates even more DP than Myrtle over time (!)

+ Talent buffs ASPD of all Sniper Operators and reduces their DP cost as long as Elysium is deployed

+ S2 is an excellent counter to Stealthed enemies and also inflicts movement speed and DEF debuffs on several targets within range (while still generating DP!)

= Doesn’t Block while Skills are active

= S2 still generates DP, but less than S1; if you want him for debuff/ anti-Stealth, you have to give up some DP gain

- Usual archetype weakness: Stops attacking while Skills are active

- His S1 requires more SP than Myrtle’s S1, so it takes him longer to start generating DP (important on some maps with very fast starts)

- Low stats make him ill-suited for actual combat

Spreadshooter Sniper

+ Usual archetype strengths: true-AoE attacks, deals increased damage to enemies in the row in front of the Operator

+ Talent inflicts a Bleed effect (Arts damage over time) on unblocked enemies that he attacks

+ S2 increases ATK and Bleed damage while also inflicting Bind on targets

= Needs to be used with a no-Block strategy to maximize the usefulness of his Bind and the damage of his Bleed

- Usual archetype weaknesses: Short attack range and slow ASPD

- S2 has low uptime

- Slow ASPD makes it hard to keep enemies in his attack range for very long without Blocking them, but Blocking them means he won’t inflict Bleed

Charge/ Mystic Caster

+ Usual archetype strengths: Unusual attack range for a Caster, extremely high base ATK, “charges up” when not attacking to unleash a stronger hit later

+ Relatively low SP costs for her Skills

+ S1 is a quirky Skill that can be used to hit distant targets, attack quickly for a few seconds, or rapidly amass a full charge (since her ASPD determines her charge speed)

+ S2 puts 2 enemies in her range to Sleep and deals AoE Arts damage when they wake up; the Sleep also gives Iris time to “charge up,” so she disables enemies for a while and then releases massive burst damage on them afterwards

= Sleep can be a double-edged sword for most team compositions

- Usual archetype weaknesses:

• VERY slow ASPD, dramatically reducing her actual damage potential
• Amassing a charge counts as an “attack,” causing delays in her ability to actually attack if enemies walk into her range while she’s charging, further slowing her actual DPS
• It’s easy for her to waste charges on overkilling weak enemies, since she can’t “save” them for strong targets

- S1 has a VERY short duration and can reduce the damage of a full-charged attack if timed incorrectly

Saileach might as well be two different characters, depending on whether you’re playing casually or for challenges. For casual players, she’s basically a more expensive Myrtle/ Elysium, able to generate about the same amount of DP for a higher initial cost. She brings several buffs and debuffs to the field, but their effects are small and outclassed by better buffers/ debuffers that are more dedicated to the task.

For challenge players, Saileach takes off like a rocket. When DP generation is limited and you need multiple Standard Bearers to get running, Saileach is ready to help. When deployment spots are limited, Saileach combines critical survival buffs or Fragile debuffs with DP generation, filling multiple important roles with one slot. Manipulation of her banner’s aura of ASPD manipulation can be the difference between life and death. The list goes on.

I don’t recommend pulling for Saileach on this banner.

Blaze is a very strong example of a Centurion Guard—an archetype that is already a cornerstone of the game. She hits multiple targets at a time, her DPS is very reliable, she can permanently increase her attack range, and she comes with a free “Get Out of Dying Once” card up her sleeve.

For a while, Blaze was a must-pull, but the arrival of other strong lane-holding Operators has reduced Blaze’s allure a little. Units like Surtr and Mountain are stiff competition, to say nothing of the limited Operator Gavial the Invincible, who is a fellow 6★ Centurion Guard.

Don’t count this fiery Feline out of the running just yet, though. Her S2’s permanent ATK + range buff makes Blaze a great “set it and forget it” unit who can often hold a lane single-handedly (sometimes two lanes if they’re close enough together!). Even as the Arknights meta changes, the Doctor will always need somebody reliable to hold the frontline, and Blaze is perfect for the task.

I don’t recommend pulling for or buying Blaze on this banner because it would be better to save for Gavial the Invincible, but Blaze is still a strong unit who can be worth raising.

Elysium has a pretty high opinion of himself, but he’s not wrong to be proud of his skills. He’s an excellent navigator, a reliable communications manager, and a potent Standard Bearer Vanguard who can generate oodles of DP to mobilize his allies into combat. He’s also one of the few Operators who can cancel Stealth on enemy units, and his Talent allows him to communicate a host of useful buffs to allied Snipers.

I recommend pulling for Elysium, but not on this banner.

Aosta can usually be found sewing new clothes and armor for his buddies Broca and Chiave, but when they get themselves into trouble, Aosta loads up his nailgun and goes to bail them out. The shots from his specially-tailored (get it?) nailgun are brutal, inflicting an additional Bleed effect to unblocked enemies, and his fearsome S2 doubles the Bleed damage while also inflicting Bind.

There are two problems with this setup. Firstly, keeping enemies in Aosta’s range without Blocking them is not easy. As typical for his archetype, Aosta has a limited attack range and fairly slow ASPD. You can get around this with Slower Supporters, Controller Specialists, and other crowd-control Operators, but the fact is that Aosta is unlikely to get many effective shots off without a lot of help.

Secondly, even if Aosta does get those shots off, you may not be impressed with the results. Even in the best-case scenario, Aosta’s damage tends to be mediocre. The Bind from his S2 is nice crowd-control, but considering that he practically needs crowd-control in order to function and that his S2 has low uptime, this does not make up for his other flaws.

I don’t recommend pulling for Aosta.

Iris walked out of a literal fairy tale to return a radio to a Rhodes Island Operator who had left it with her as a child. How is it that Iris hasn’t aged since she first took that radio decades ago? Magic? Dreams? Iris isn’t talking. But she certainly is contributing, bringing one of the highest ATK in Arknights, a special damage-charging Trait, and the power of the Sleep ailment to bear against those who would threaten the children of the world.

It’s hugely satisfying when Iris has the time to build up a fully charged blast and fling it out for massive damage. However, it takes her so long to build up a full charge that she’ll rarely get to do this, and even when she does, she may waste it on small fry just before the boss comes into her range. Her Skills can also be awkward: S1 can greatly speed up her charge time but can also neuter the damage of the charged attack, and S2 involves Sleep, which is always a tricky ailment to work with.

I don’t recommend pulling for Iris.